By 2050
Futurologists（未来学家）predict that life will probably be very different in 2050.
TV channels（频道）will have disappeared. Instead, people will choose a program from a “menu” and a computer will send the program directly to the television. Today, we can use the World Wide Web to read newspaper stories and see pictures on a computer thousands of kilometers away. By 2050, music, films, programs, newspapers, and books will come to us by computer.
Cars will run on new, clean fuels and they will go very fast. Cars will have computers to control the speed and there won’t be any accidents. Today, many cars have computers that tell drivers exactly where they are. By 2050, the computer will control the car and drive it to your destination. Space planes will take people halfway around the world in 2 hours. Today, the United States Space Shuttle can go into space and land on Earth again. By 2050, space planes will fly all over the world and people will fly from Los Angeles to Tokyo in just 2 hours.
Robots will have replaced people in factories. Many factories already use robots. Big computers prefer robots—they don’t ask for pay rises or go on strike, and they work 24 hours a day. By 2050, we will see robots everywhere—in factories, schools, offices, hospitals, shops and homes.
Medical technology will have conquered many diseases. Today, there are devices（设备）that connect directly to the brain to help people hear. By 2050, we will be able to help blind and deaf people to see and hear again.
Scientist will have discovered how to control genes（基因）. Scientists have already produced clones（克隆）of animals. By 2050, scientists will be able to produce clones of people, and decide how they look, how they behave and how clever they are. Scientists will be able to do these things, but should they?
【小题1】According to the passage, the following can be realized today EXCEPT __________.

B
The world is not coming to an end on December 21, 2012, the US space agency insisted Monday in a rare campaign to dispel widespread rumors fueled by the Internet and a new Hollywood movie．
The latest big screen offering from Sony Picture, 2012, arrives in theaters on Friday, with a 200-million-dollar production about the end of the world supposedly based on myths backed by the Mayan calendar．It is claimed that the end of time will come as a Planet X---or Nibiru---heads toward or collides with the Earth．
Some websites accuse NASA of hiding the truth on the planet’s existence, but the US space agency condemned such stories as an “Internet hoax”．“There is no factual basis for these claims,” NASA said in a question-and-anwser posting on this website．“If such a collision were real, astronomers would have been tracking it for at least the past decade, and it would be visible by now to the naked eye．Obviously, it does not exist．Credible scientists worldwide know of no threat associated with 2012,” it insisted．“After all, our planet has been getting along just well for more than four billion years,” added NASA．
There is another planet, Eris, floating in space．But the small planet similar to Pluto will remain safely fixed in the outer solar system and it can come no closer than four billion miles to the Earth, according to NASA．
Earlier theories set the disaster for May 2003, but when nothing happened the date was moved forward to the winter in 2012 to coincide with the end of a cycle of the ancient Mayan calendar．
NASA insisted the Mayan calendar in fact does not end on December 21, 2012, as another period begins immediately afterward．
And even if the planets were to line up as some have forecast, the effect on our planet would be “negligible（unimportant）”, NASA said．
“And while comets and asteroids （小行星） have always hit the Earth, big hits are very rare,” NASA noted．The last major impact was believed to be 65 million years ago, resulting in the end of dinosaurs．
“We have already determined that there are no threatening asteroids as large as the one that killed the dinosaurs,” the space agency said．
49．______ played a key role in the spread of the rumors．
A．A new book               B．The Internet and a new Hollywood movie
C．NASA                   D．An Indian calendar
50．We can infer that ______．
A．people didn’t take the rumor seriously
B．Planet X --- or Nibiru does exist
C．astronomers have been tracking Planet X for over ten years
D．the rumor caused a panic among some people
51．NASA thinks that Eris ______．
A．might have a threat to the Earth     B．doesn’t have any threat to the Earth
C．is too far away to be visible       D．is similar to our planet, where life might exist
52．Which of the following is the best title?
A．New Hollywood movie 2012
B．December 21, 2012, Not the end of the world
C．End of the ancient Mayan calendar
D．How rumors came into being

With eco-tourism on the rise, eco-hotels are fast becoming the darling of the travel industry. These days, however, staying at an eco-hotel doesn’t necessarily mean vacationing in a tree house in the Costa Rican jungle, although that is certainly a choice.
The majority of eco-hotels fall into several categories: hotels and resorts that conserve ecologically important habitats; “green” hotels that reduce, recycle, minimize waste, and protect water; sustainable hotels that harvest food from gardens on the hotel property or get part or all of their power from renewable energy; hotels that encourage community involvement such as guests taking part in trail clearing; and hotels that offer some form of environmental education to their guests.
As such, eco-hotels are a various group. Stylish urban hotels like the Willard Inter-Continental Washington focus on energy conservation whereas the Rosario Resort & Spa on Orcas Island in Washington State offers a wildly popular “green” vacation package where guests can “take a hike, clear a trail”.
No matter what you call them, eco-hotel, eco-lodge, eco-resort, or green hotel, they’re all part of the “greening” of the tourism industry.
Part of what drives this greening of the hotel industry is no doubt competition. Going green is another way to distinguish a hotel from the mass of other excellent hotels that consumers have to choose from. But for many hotels, it’s also part of their philosophy. With the concept of “going green” firmly rooted in consumers’ minds, eco-hotels have taken it to the next level, and whether or not money is the driving factor behind the greening of the hotel industry doesn’t matter so much as it’s good for the planet.
【小题1】According to the passage, which of the following can match the idea of eco-hotel?

Penguins live together，but each pair has a little piece of ground of their own.When a penguin wants to walk through its neighbor’s ground，it must ask permission.If it does not do that，it will have to fight.Most of the time，penguins live on the water.They eat shell fish and look after their children carefully.
All penguins are good parents—the male penguins are perhaps the best parents in the world. They walk in the sea in the middle of the dark Antarctic water. They choose their wives in the dark.They can only hear them—not see them.Then the female penguins lay their eggs and go away for about two months.The males take care of the eggs.If the eggs get cold，there will be no chicks.There is no food.The snow falls heavily and the wind blows strongly—sometimes at 150 kilometers an hour.The penguins do not move.When the females return from the sea，they will not remember their husbands.It does not matter.Only one thing matters—the eggs.Male penguins never fight—unless a penguin leaves a chick for a minute.They then fight because they all want it.They are strange and wonderful birds.
【小题1】It seems interesting and unusual that the male penguins choose their wives ______.

When it comes to eating out, we can't help thinking of big meals in the restaurants, which usually contain much more fat and less fibers. Whether it is a business meeting over lunch or a fast food meal with the kids, eating out is a part of our lives. We eat out to save a lot of time, like grabbing a bite at fast food restaurants, or we take dining out as a favorite way to relax and socialize with friends.

    Eating out can be fun but many people still like eating at home more because it is healthier. When my dear wife does not prepare foods for me, I would rather cook some instant noodles and eat at home! However, we go out to eat once in a while for holidays or on special occasions.

    More and more people want to make healthy food choices nowadays. Some are watching calories, while others want to keep their cholesterol(胆固醇)under control or eat less fat. Plan ahead and choose wisely, you will find foods that fit into your meal plan and make eating out both healthy and enjoyable.

    Here are some pointers to remember that can help you make wise choices when eating out: go for balance, watch portion sizes and drink water or low-fat milk. Keep the ground rules of good nutrition in mind. Eat a variety of foods in moderate(适中的)amounts, limit the amount of fat you eat, and watch the amount of salt in food. If you develop the skills to make healthy choices now, your body will thank you later.

    Eating out can be one of life's great pleasures. Make the right choices, ask for what you need, and balance your meals out with healthy meals at home. You can enjoy yourself and take good care of yourself at the same time.

From the passage, we can infer that often eating out______________ .

    A. contributes to healthy bodies            B. maintains good relations with friends

    C. is of disadvantage to health         D. saves time from cooking

On the author's wedding anniversary, _______________________.

    A. he prefers to cook some instant noodles for his wife

    B. he would like to have a party at home

    C. he must make an important choice

    D. he is likely to take his wife to eat out

The third paragraph doesn't say but implies that________________.

    A. people's awareness of health has improved

    B. most people are worried about their cholesterol

    C. calories have caused people's attention

    D. it is important to choose your food every day

If you had been watching for your diet, _____________________ .

A. you wouldn't have suffered any disease

B. you would be in good health now

C. you might have had much experience in life

D. you could have cured your illnesses